Bee pollen and longevity

Many of us already know the benefits of bee pollen. This substance, a mixture of bee-collected honey and pollen, fed by the bees to their larvae, contains an incredibly wide variety of vitamins, minerals, proteins, and other nutrients essential for life. Several studies have shown that bee pollen can be beneficial to our health: it increases our vitality and resistance, helps us cope with stress, builds resistance to allergies and strengthens our immune system. Some studies even suggest that it may help in the treatment of cancer.

Some doctors have reported that pollen has a biological effect on our cells, preventing premature aging of cells and promoting the growth of new cell tissue. This process stimulates blood flow to skin cells and smooths out wrinkles. And also, some studies suggest that it could help us live longer.

Some researchers theorize that “natural aging” may not be so natural that we actually tend to age prematurely due to our habits, and that a longer life is within our grasp. Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling and others have reported that vitamin C, taken regularly, can extend life for a decade or more. And unhealthy habits and environments, such as excessive sunlight, fatty foods and food additives, cigarettes, and air pollution, can damage our tissues and shorten our lives.

Dr. Nicolai Tsitsin, a Russian experimental botanist and biologist, did research on human longevity and sent out questionnaires to 200 centenarians. Most of these older people lived in the Caucasus Mountains region (in what was, at the time of Dr. Tsitsin’s research, the Soviet Republic of Georgia), a region long noted for the longevity of its population. Dr. Tsitsin discovered that a large number of the centenarians were beekeepers and ate the fruit of their labor every day. And they didn’t eat primarily honey, raw honey was sold to customers, but the residue they scraped from the bottom of honey containers, which turned out to be bee pollen.

And, most importantly, the beekeepers did not process this pollen in any way – they consumed it raw, unfiltered, and unheated, in its natural state. Furthermore, although they were by no means wealthy and led difficult lives, for the most part they were active and healthy, and completely satisfied with their lives, even in their later years.

Dr. Tsitsin’s and others’ research on longevity is inconclusive and more studies remain to be done, but we can still reap the benefits of bee pollen. To reap the full benefits, it’s best to emulate Caucasian beekeepers and eat the pollen in its raw, unprocessed state. You may be able to get from a local beekeeper in your area; or visit your health food store and purchase raw bee pollen granules. The flavor may be strong at first, but added to yogurt, cereal, applesauce, or a fruit smoothie, it can easily become part of your regular diet.

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